Matt Jensen

Expert Design & Delivery

ONCALL: Support Worker web app

Role: Project Team Lead & UX Design Consultant
Client: ONCALL Australia
Duration: 20 weeks

Overview

I was the Telstra Purple Project team lead and Design Consultant for the successful Discovery, Design and Delivery of a web-based progressive web application (PWA) for ONCALL to modernise the ‘support worker staff’ experience by eliminating paper/email data communication and digitising the whole worker experience.

The resultant app allowed Support Workers to view and manage Shift Offers, Rosters, Timesheets and list their Availability for work, and leveraged web-based push notifications to alert the workers of new shifts becoming available.

Delivery of the application involved navigating challenging, complex stakeholder and technical environments, and integrating data from a legacy systems in the midst of changing the way the business operates, all whilst ensuring a usable end-user experience for support workers as well as a great project delivery experience for ONCALL.

Situation

ONCALL Group Australia, a leading provider of support services in the Disability and Child & Youth sectors across Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland, faced growing operational inefficiencies. As the organisation scaled, its paper-based systems for managing Support Worker shifts, timesheets, and availability became slow, error-prone, and frustrating for both staff and support workers. A new senior leadership team recognised that ONCALL risked becoming obsolete unless they modernised their core operations to compete with more agile, digital-native competitors.

Telstra Purple had been initially engaged to review ONCALL’s staff management system, and as part of the engagement uncovered broader opportunities to be involved in ONCALL’s digital transformation — specifically, a Support Worker Portal (SWP) app to digitise key workflows and improve engagement.

Task

As the Telstra Purple project lead, my task was to build a relationship with the customer, put together a project team to deliver the work, and then deliver an exceptional outcome, including:

  • Proving the value of digital transformation through a rapid discovery and validation process.
  • Designing and delivering a digital portal to modernise ONCALL’s support worker engagement model.
  • Building organisational trust and demonstrating Telstra Purple’s end-to-end capability — from strategy to design and agile delivery.

Action

‘Purple Labs’ Discovery Design Sprint (Co-lead)

Telstra Purple initiated the engagement through a ‘Purple Labs’ Discovery Design Sprint to uncover and validate requirements for the new Support Worker Portal app, via a 5-day collaborative workshop combining business stakeholders and end users.

I co-led the design sprint, with key activities including:

  • Ideation and co-design: Co-creation sessions with ONCALL’s CIO, analysts, and support workers to define the problem, map workflows, and identify key features.
  • Prototyping and User Testing: Rapid prototyping and staff user testing to validate and refine concepts for the digital portal.
  • Stakeholder playback: Presentation of a validated digital prototype and business case to senior leadership.

Design & Delivery (Project Lead)

Following a successful and productive Purple Labs design sprint, ONCALL commissioned Telstra Purple to design and deliver the full Support Worker Portal, which I also led. This included:

  • Design Thinking-based approach: Design-led, human centred, agile and dual-track delivery incorporating the Double Diamond approach (Discover–Define–Develop–Deliver), to fully define screens and workflows for backlog story specification
  • User Experience, Interaction and Visual Design: Led the end-to-end User Experience, Interaction, and Visual Design for the Support Worker Portal, translating user research and business requirements into intuitive workflows, interactive prototypes, and a polished, accessible interface.
  • Business analysis: captured requirements with acceptance criteria, developed backlog user stories, and assisted with acceptance testing.
  • Scrum Master: Led Agile ceremonies and facilitated team collaboration, ensuring timely delivery of iterative releases, efficient sprint planning, and continuous alignment between stakeholders, designers, and developers throughout the project.
  • Project Leadership and Management: Planning and management of project budget, timelines, and delivery quality to ensure successful outcomes.
  • Solution development: Oversaw the delivery of the Support Worker Portal web application — a responsive application accessible via web browsers, mobile devices, and QR codes.
  • Front-end development: Led the front-end styling of the Support Worker Portal using HTML, CSS and TS/JS, implementing responsive, accessible, and performant interfaces that aligned with the UX and visual design vision.
  • System integration: Oversaw the integration of the Support Worker Portal with key ONCALL systems and platforms.
  • Continuous improvement: Employed a Learn–Build–Measure–Repeat approach to refine functionality and enhance user experience based on ongoing feedback.

Result

  • Digital transformation achieved: ONCALL transitioned from a manual, paper-based system to a modern digital platform, improving efficiency, accuracy, and user satisfaction, including:
    • Viewing and accepting shift offers.
    • Viewing rostered shifts.
    • Submitting digital timesheets.
    • Setting work availability days and times.
    • Receiving real-time updates and notifications.
  • $2M+ total engagement value: What began as a small review evolved into a strategic, multi-phase digital partnership with Telstra Purple.
  • Operational impact:
    • Reduced the administrative burden and manual data entry for ONCALL and Support Workers.
    • Digitising workflows reduced data entry errors, improving accuracy and efficiency across operations.
    • Faster shift matching and timesheet processing.
    • Improved communication and job satisfaction for Support Workers.
  • Ongoing partnership: ONCALL continues to engage Telstra Purple for ongoing professional services, demonstrating long-term trust and success.